


my reputation's never been worse (so you must like me for me).

by anxiouspunk



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/F, First Dates, First Time Saying ‘I Love You’, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I can’t say much because I don’t know what exactly is going to be in here right now, Near Death Experience, One Shot Collection, You Decide, and kali’s seen as either a killer or a weapon, and they feel they can be who they really are with each other, but I’ll be constantly updating tags once I do know, but lets be honestly mostly fluff ‘cause I know what I’m like, but the two of them see each other outside of what others have decided of them, expect the usual characters to pop up occasionally, hand holding, nancy’s either trapped by being the ‘good girl’ or ‘the slut’, or it’s just showing that I had next to no other ideas for titles, or kali as an abuser or just plain evil, plus it’s a take on how fandom only sees nancy as manipulative or a bitch, probably some family feels thrown in too because again I know what I’m like, so meta, t for now but that might change, title’s based on how both nancy and kali’s reputations precede them, ‘cause they’ve undergone the same hardship and were hurt by the badmen they sought to get revenge on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-10-28 22:23:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17795864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiouspunk/pseuds/anxiouspunk
Summary: [I have no summary. it's a kalancy one-shot set. that's it. please enjoy these badass girls being gay together in different scenarios]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, it's been a while. So despite my great love for this ship, I've had a hard time getting anything together. This is mostly because, while I enjoy story writing, my stories are always too long and I take five million years to ever finish anything. And I really wanted to write for these two again but I didn't want to have to hack away on something for months and months - ergo, the solution, a oneshot collection!
> 
> So, I'll be putting these two in with various prompts, or just writing small stories of whatever I like. And I'm determined to make them small, so I can actually post stuff. I'll usually give you the basic low-down on the background of the oneshot (if needed) in notes as well. Hope you enjoy the first one!
> 
> Scene: This first one is set in a kind of end-of-the-world scenario, where the gate has reopened and our beloved characters have been fighting off the dangers, and it opens at the end of the fight right before El and Kali have to go in by themselves as the only two who can close the gate and save the world less it be consumed by another dimension. 
> 
> Prompt: “Look, I don’t have much time, but I wanted to say I love you.” & “Look at me—just breathe, okay?”

When Nancy imagined finally hearing the words  _ I love you,  _ she’d imagined the scenario quite differently then this. 

 

She’d pictured something a little romantic, at the  indulgence of herself. Her and Kali, just the two of them during a moment away.  Probably on the outskirts of town, the content quiet of the  quarry and them spread on the blanket, Nancy half-way in Kali’s lap with her head rested perfectly on her shoulder so Kali can whisper to her, all nerves with a heart that can’t keep it in any longer,  _ I love you. _ And Nancy, so taken and overjoyed, will brighten enough to light up the whole purple evening sky above them,  _ I love you too.  _ She’ll watch Kali break out into that amazing grin she has, that shows the  happiness  she often feels she has to hide – and they’ll kiss and  it’ll be just as incredible as the first time, Kali’s hand gripping her waist and Nancy’s cupping her cheek because they can’t get closer, not dreaming of ever letting go after that moment.  Something amazing, something she’ll always remember.

 

Alright, so, a lot romantic. And even if it hadn’t been, this was still the last thing she’d thought would happen.

 

She had not expected it when the whole world was falling away at their fingertips. 

 

Yet, here she was. She’d stood back with the rest, as far away as they could be from the force ripping the world apart. The gate; the very one that’d reopened, that’d unleashed a force that’d taken the entire Hawkins Lab whole. The one that’d sent powerful earthquakes and storms and whatever else, threatening a danger that soon everyone else had figured out would very well destroy the planet less it could be stopped. 

 

It was a very powerful foe. And they had only one weapon – well, two.

 

She’d stood back, as everyone else has, watching both Kali and El walk themselves down to their fate, hand in hand and the quiet power both girls held rolling off strong shoulders. Nancy felt a bit guilty at feeling glad, that it was less her girlfriend who had no chances, as it was El. It was El’s powers that were the core force to be able to bring it all down – but she couldn’t do it alone, she didn’t have enough strength. Kali, of course being the only other one with powers, had to go beside her and offer all she could of her own. 

 

So Nancy and the rest  stayed back, battered and bruised from the fighting previously done; Hopper and Joyce trying  to watch for their daughter, her brother and his friends  stone-faced to the scene before them. Jonathan and Steve were on her other side; Jonathan had grasped her wrist, squeezing tight, knowing how her eyes had never left Kali. You could barely see them from here, two small figures, Kali’s torn leather jacket and the dirt smeared over El’s pink sweater. They were puny against that giant... _ mass,  _ before them.

 

So, no, this wasn’t the scene Nancy had pictured.

 

But it was what happened, when it was revealed the sisters were the ones who had to defeat it, and only them, less the whole world collapse in a matter of hours. Nancy barely had time to process that before Kali was in front of her, hands gripping her arms, an expression of both her familiar seriousness yet desperate all the same with wide eyes, pleading. 

 

“ _Nancy, Nance, listen to me, I have to –”_

 

“ _No, no please, Kal, you can’t please –”_

 

“ _Jane needs me, but listen, listen –”_

 

“ _No you_ _ **can’t**_ _don’t go don’t you’ll die I can’t loose you too –”_

 

That’s when Kali palm was fondly cupping her cheek as Nancy cried, begged her to stay, seeing the same tears reflected in brown eyes but her voice never wavering as she spoke,

 

“ _Look, I don’t-I don’t have much time, but, I wanted to say I love you..”_

 

I love you. They’d been dating a year but it still struck Nancy. She hadn’t rushed Kali in her feelings, knowing the reason it was taking her so long wasn’t because her feelings weren’t there, but that she’d lost so many in her life, it’d become scary enough to tell a person less they leave her life again. Nancy could understand that; she’d lost enough too to know how frighting it was to love again. 

 

She’d been shocked into silence, only ragged breaths and tears, watching her incredible girlfriend with the cuts already on her hands and blood dried under her nose, wrecked from fighting, but still holding so much strength to take her and El forward. And then Kali kissed her, kissed her for the possible last time, Nancy barely having time to memorize it before Kali was out of her arms, repeating  _ I love you, I love you  _ as she left.

 

Nancy never even got to say it back. 

 

Instead, they were forced to stay back and let the girls walk into the monsters mouth. Nobody had any idea what could happen but no sooner the ground began moving and the mass before Kali and El started surging and shaking and  _ screaming.  _ It looked like it had started shrinking but no one could tell as everything started moving at once and the earth started cracking  open.  Nancy didn’t want to take her eyes away but people started yelling  and  Hopper’s screaming  _ get down! get down!  _ and hands are on her arms, dragging her away. She’s pulled down by Steve and Jonathan and just has time to check for Mike huddled beside Will and Lucas, guarded by Hopper, as they duck behind the truck and she’s enveloped. The kids are screaming and everyone’s holding onto each other tight as the whole world is wracked and there’s a sudden white light blinding everything – 

 

And silence.

 

The earth was still, there was no other worldly sounds  emanating. Everyone was quick on up on their feet, eyes casted out to where the lab had once stood –  _ where are they what’s going on –  _ only to find, nothing. 

 

The mass was gone, the gate evaporated. It was over. Nancy can’t feel herself breathing, squeezing onto Jonathan’s hand still in hers, the other  shaking as it held her pistol. 

 

And Kali and El. Laid on the ground, still.

 

“ _Holy shit –”_

 

“ _El!”_

 

“ _ Everyone get in the car, get in now go!”  _

 

The next second she’s rushing to the side of Steve’s car, Jonathan and the rest of the kids who didn’t get in the truck  packing in as the keys are turned and Steve’s racing it down the road straight for what they’d been trying to avoid. 

 

There’s still yelling the back and Jonathan’s trying to tell Steve to avoid the  chasms now made in the asphalt and she’s telling him to drive faster and the kids –  _ what the hell even happened, is El okay did you guys see it, shit did they actually survive that, of course they did why would say, do you think it’s actually gone, El’s okay she’ll be okay –  _ and all Nancy can hear is  _ I love you, I love you.  _

 

When they’re close the car slams on it’s breaks, skidding across the road, the truck doing the same in front of them. Nancy throws open the door, jumping out and  _ runs. _

 

Kali’s laid on her back, covered in rubble and not moving. Nancy crashes to her knees beside her, hands she can’t hold still grasping around her head to prop her up on her lap.

 

“ _Kali_ oh my god oh god Kal, it’s me, it’s me can you hear me –”

 

She’s not responding. She still against  her, head lolling as Nancy grasps onto her, nothing. Distantly Nancy  recognizes Steve and Jonathan falling  in  behind her –  _ is she okay what’s going on _ – and she can hear Hopper calling El’s name as he hovers over her, Mike beside and surrounded by the kids. But she doesn’t process it because Kali’s still not moving and she’s caked in dirt and she’s worn right through, her eyes closed like she was really – 

 

A pulse. She needs to check. Hastily she  grabs  her shirt collar and tears it to place  her  fingers against her chest, begging to find a heartbeat, to find something to show she didn’t loose her love,  _ anything. _

 

“C’mon Kal please, please I know you’re there  _ please _ you can’t  leave –”

 

She gasps. There, faintly, a small beat underneath her skin Nancy can feel skimming against her fingertips. 

 

“Kal –”

 

Kali jolts against her, eyes flying open and gasping. She can barely breathe, turning to the side as she chokes and sputters blood against the pavement, contorted in pain but Nancy’s beaming and starting to sob all over again, grasping tighter to her. 

 

“ _Kali!_ Oh my god – hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Nancy  cups her cheek, holding her steady as her head falls back into her lap “Look at me – just breathe, okay? Just breathe, I got you.”

 

She does, unsteady and torn, but managing. Nancy strokes her cheek as she does, the other hand  grasping Kali’s hand, intertwining fingers.

 

“It’s okay, I got you Kal, I got you..”  Nancy assures, trying to regulate her  _ own  _ breathing  “….you did it Kal, you  guys, you..you  saved everyone, you’re incredible..”

 

“Nance...” She manages a whisper, not even able to open her eyes yet. 

 

“Yeah?..” 

 

“Where’s..Jane..” 

 

Nancy looks across. El was turned over on her back, currently looking up with dazed and tired eyes at Joyce  who’s also cradling her head. 

 

“She’s okay, she’s here, she’s awake..” 

 

“Good..” was the single sigh “And you..are-are you?..”

 

Nancy can’t help but almost laugh, her shock and delirium mixing together, terror of nearly losing Kali and joy at finding her still alive. She very well throws herself to her demise to save them but yet _this_ is what she’s asking; pink lips turn up shakily, more tears slipping from baby blues.

 

“ _Yes,_ yes I’m fine, it’s okay, don’t-don’t worry about me..”

 

As they sit in silence, Nancy knows in a second they’ll have to get up. Hopper will declare his next order and chaos will come back, everyone running and scrambling to get the sisters to the nearest medical aid. Hopper will scoop up El wrapped in Mike’s jacket into his arms and Steve will take Kali in his, and they’ll rush off, roaring across in the cars and Nancy holding Kali in the back seat, hand in hand and swearing to never let go until she was safe and even after that.

 

But right now, her keeping the small and tattered girl close, Nancy realizes there’s something she has to say before that.

 

“Kali?..”

 

She barely manages a nod in return; she was still trembling as she breathed in, eyes still screwed tight, and Nancy knew this had to be quick.

 

“I-I love you too..”

 

And just like that, like she hadn’t almost been lost to the world, like she hadn’t experienced the hurt of almost being ripped apart, she starts to _grin._ And so does Nancy, smiling with teary cheeks, leaning down to press her forehead to Kali’s and whisper _I love you, I love you too._

 

So, Nancy would’ve preferred a version where her girlfriend didn’t have to nearly die, but feeling Kali’s fingers tighten around hers with the little strength she had remaining and the whispered confessions between, maybe this wasn’t so far from that kind of unforgettable amazing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS ONE-SHOTS ARE AMAZING. I FINISHED THIS IN /TWO DAYS/. MY EYES HAVE BEEN OPENED.
> 
> PS. I accidentally made this as a complete work the first time I uploaded it, but to be clear, this is a multi-chaptered work - as you'll see by the second instalment below X)
> 
> Scene: Nancy and Kali attempt their first ever date. 
> 
> Prompt: “Can I hold your hand?”

This is ridiculous.

 

Kali knows who she is. By now, she’s become very confident in that, in herself. After cruel men wanted to carve and cut her into their own desire, she’s learned to reject the harshness of what she’s been told about herself – and instead, has molded herself into  _ her choosing. _ No one, and no outside factors, decide who she is and what she does.

 

And this? This doesn’t add up. 

 

It doesn’t really compute to the image of herself. To the black leather and spiked boots. To the secretive brown eyes and steel glare that could  see right through you. To the past of pain and killings and the ability to hold a gun better then she should know how. To a held power that made a person forget she was only five feet tall.

 

This image, of Nancy Wheeler standing beside her under the roof of Hawkins’s movie  theater on a friday date night, did  _ not  _ sound like herself. At all.

 

She doesn’t do this kind of thing – she’s  _ never  _ done anything like this, in fact. Her life, full of many harrows, didn’t really make time for dating. Of course she’s had feelings for other women, romances, before; but most of that was stolen  intimacy that took the back seat to her vigilante work. Shared kisses that were red and urgent, hands gripping at each other, feelings that wouldn’t dare be spoken to the other person except through bruised lips. 

 

Yet, here she was. She was going on a ‘date’ like the kind people her age actually do. She was out on the town, not on a hunt or to snoop for more clues, but to casually see a movie. She was standing in a movie  theater that had an ugly beige carpet sticky from past spilled sodas and did tuesday nights for two bucks. She was standing, and without the intent of just passing through, in a place full of  nuisance  kids and obnoxious teens wearing cheerleader skirts and letterman jackets.

 

Yep, doesn’t feel like her at all. 

 

What was more confusing, were her feelings regarding the second person on this date, Nancy Wheeler.

 

The both of them had been a bit blindsided by this. Both seemed unspokenly fine with dancing around their feelings for each other, ignoring the  longing gazes at the other and the bizarre magnetic draw both could feel when in the same room. But apparently their siblings were not. El had confronted Kali on the matter, told her she wasn’t no dummy and had noticed how she secretly eyed Nancy with more interest then she pretended she had ( _ “making googly eyes.”  _ she’d said, steeling a phrase Kali had used for whenever her baby sister and that Wheeler kid were together). And apparently, Mike was getting sick of Nancy always pestering him if he’d seen Kali when he went over to the Byers-Hopper house or even inviting herself along to his visits to see El and Will just to catch a glimpse of the girl. So they’d collaborated and schemed and before the older siblings knew it, the younger ones had told them they were to see each other at 6 tonight for a movie and all but gave them the shove out the door.

 

So here she stands, a tightening in her stomach, teetering back and forth on her feet and repeatedly glancing around, because she’s standing too close to her crush and she can smell the strawberry shampoo from the short brown tresses. Nancy’s hand is just hanging at her side, and Kali keeps eyeing it, wondering how the soft fingers would feel in between her calloused ones – but never daring to take her own hand out of her pocket.

 

W ere you suppose to hold hands during these kinds of things? Should she have already tried to hold Nancy’s? Should she...ask? God, she has no idea what you do. She secretly wished she did. Kali eyes her from the corner of her vision again. 

 

Nancy Wheeler. Nancy Catherine Wheeler, apparently. A girl who wore  nice sweaters and  pleaded skirts that perfectly measured to her  knees. Who colour  co-ordinated her study notes and had one of the best grade averages  in her school. Who probably had a trust fund for Princeton. Who’d usually be the kind of girl who would sneer at Kali if they locked eyes in the department store make-up isle. Who grew up cul-de-sac innocence and probably never touched a cigarette less it was on a dare. Who still calls adults by their last names with the proper  prefixes and had a bubblegum, good girl sweetness that would normally make Kali want to vomit.

 

She was also  _ Nancy Wheeler, _ the girl who shattered this town’s too-small-to-be-interesting persona by holding up the death of her best friend and made sure everyone got a good look. Who refused to let her voice be silenced even if everyone wanted to ignore what happened. Who slit her own palm and stood right in a monster’s path to engulf it in flames. Who hunted down the bad men and twisted their metaphorical necks to make them pay for their crimes. The same men Kali hunted. Who asked Kali how to better handle her pistol and just as she was instructing Nancy how to aim, she’d shot the soda can target three feet into the air on the first try. Who was smarter then people ever estimated, slyer then they’d believe, who wore sharp claws under her soft pink and wasn’t afraid to show them if pressed. Who knew her own assigned sweet-school-girl persona and played it perfectly to her advantage. 

 

_ That  _ Nancy Wheeler. 

 

And Kali may be totally in love with that.

 

“Can you take this?”

 

Kali blinked back to reality. Nancy was looking at her, a half-smile and curious eyes watching her. She was holding out a paper bag overflowing with popcorn.

 

“Oh. Sure.”

 

She takes it from Nancy, already getting butter on her fingertips from where it was leaking. She quickly wiped it off before it got on her leather gloves. Nancy picked  up Kali’s  coke and then her sprite after sticking the straws through the lids, grasping a couple napkins before they moved out of the way of the food stand.

 

“What theater are we again?” Kali muttered. 

 

“Theater seven, near the end.” 

 

She grunted back. She really hadn’t been that interested in seeing the  _ Labyrinth,  _ but it was the only good one out of the lot. David Bowie made  amazing music so she can at least look forward to that, even if it did look cheesy. She dwells on these thoughts as they both walk in silence, not totally noticing Nancy’s eyes drilling into the side of her head.

 

“..You don’t talk much, do you?” 

 

“Glad you finally picked up on that..” 

 

Nancy only scoffed back, her lips still tilted on one side “Or that you look like you’d rather have your eyes gorged out then be here..” 

 

Kali snorts “Dramatic Nancy Wheeler..”

 

“Only because you’re very bad at hiding how miserable you are..” 

 

Brown eyes rolled as the finally reached their  theater , slowing down. There were footsteps behind them and Kali quickly had to leap out of the way for the two little girls careening past them into the  theater , squealing with excitement and not noticing how Kali’s nose scrunched up  at them.

 

“...A couple months ago I was on police watch lists and was buying illegal firearms, and now I’m forced to endure kids screaming and kicking the back of my seat..” 

 

Nancy sighed. She looked up at the faded  _ 7  _ above the  entrance , and then back down into the dark corridor leading in. 

 

“Well, better speak now or you’ll forever have to hold your peace..” She turned to Kali but avoided her eyes, the sweetness and smile suddenly gone “Because if you really _would_ rather gorge your eyes out then be with me, I’m sure this time could be better used elsewhere..”

 

Kali huffed shortly,  deflating and fingers  pinching her brow.  _ Great.  _

 

“It-it’s not _you..”_

 

“Really?” Nancy sounds like she’d be folding her arms if she wasn’t awkwardly trying to hold up two bulging cups of soda. 

 

“ _Really.”_ Kali pressed, this time meeting her eyes directly “I just..I..I haven’t ever _done this –_ this..this kind of thing, before, and so I-I’m not entirely sure of _what_ I’m doing or _what’s_ going on...” 

 

Finally, Nancy smiles again. She leans in a little, closer to Kali, the smaller girl swallowing tightly. She actually looked really nice; she’s got on a light blue sweater that matches her eyes, and the pink lips were coated in red. It made Kali want to take the bottom one between her teeth and suck on it. She already felt under dressed in the sole nicest outfit she owned, grey sweater and black jeans with leather jacket, before she even _saw_ what Nancy was wearing.

 

“Well, that’s fair, ‘cause neither have I really.” 

 

“Yeah right..” Kali scoffed, having to move aside for another family, easily meeting the confused glare of the white guy with the ball cap and sleeveless flannel, corralling his five children into the theater. She’s sure he was just getting used to the tiny handful of black families in this town, let alone a gay Indian girl with her head shaved. That’s gotta throw him for a loop.

 

“Honestly. I only ever did the..courting thing with Steve, and that was really more...make-outs then actual dates. And Jonathan and I kinda jumped into a relationship before we actually did any real _dating,_ so..”

 

“But you have read plenty of teen magazines..”

 

“ _Funny.”_

 

“Alright, but I’m still the one running on _zero_ experience here, meaning I’m much worse at the fuzzy feelings and when exactly I’m suppose to put my arm around you so you don’t notice..” Kali quips, and Nancy must appreciate the dryness because she nearly grins, playfulness sparking off.

 

“I give you fuzzy feelings?..” 

 

“Not that I’d ever admit it if asked..” Kali grunts. 

 

Nancy laughs quietly. Without saying more, she just gives a “c’mon..” and grins at Kali,  spinning around, brown curls whipping,  to  head into the  theater. She doesn’t get very far when a hand clamps on her shoulder, pulling her back. 

 

“Wait..” 

 

“What?” 

 

Kali nervously looks into the baby blues, biting into her cheek. Before she loses her nerve, or possibly regains her sanity, she blurts out,

 

“Can I hold your hand?..” 

 

There was a horrible, crushing second of silence after, or maybe just a moment of shock  for Nancy. It made Kali want to run straight out of the room. God, and people willingly do these things  on dates? After, slowly, a  shining smile bloomed over Nancy. 

 

“Wow, you really are the worst at this.”

 

Kali furrows, unsure of what to say next. Instead she only watches Nancy place the cup in one of her hands into the nook of her other arm, carefully nestling it against her to hold it up, and then so simply slides her hand over Kali’s gloved one, fingers intertwining. Kali feels heat rise up over her neck and there’s no time to think as Nancy  _ finally  _ pulls them into the  theater.

 

The film, turned out to not be so bad. Kali could’ve done without the creepy puppets, but she found much related strength in the moment Sarah broke free from the Goblin King’s hold, the  _ you have no power over me.  _ When it was done, both girls agreed they had to take El and Max to see it next time.

 

Her favourite part of the movie though, was that Nancy held her hand the whole way through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked that - kudos and comments are encouraged, if not downright begged for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again. So, only three chapters in and I already broke my own promises and made this slightly longer than normal. But I had this idea and had to run with it; it took a while to find my groove with it and get the words out which is why it's so much later then the last chapter, but I loved the idea too much. Next time, I'll have more self-discipline :P
> 
> Scene: This is set a bit further in the future, where Nancy and Kali are in their 20's. I've always hc'd that Kali goes back to live in Hawkins with El (where she meets and falls in love with Nancy, obviously) after s2, and stays with her there till she graduates. El doesn't wanna be far from her family so she goes to college in the city and Kali goes with her and they live together. Nancy, being older, graduated earlier and went to probably some big city college somewhere else as to get out of dodge and to somewhere where she could actually do something with her brilliance, but graduates early to come back to be with Kali, who couldn't have left El still so young to follow Nancy out of state. 
> 
> Prompt: "I will protect you, no matter what."

Chicago was actually quiet at night.

 

Maybe it was the neighborhood they lived in. It was the run-down, shoddy, actually-affordable-low-prices part of the city – not the downtown, busy high life. Which, in retrospect, is much better for two psychic human experiment sisters and one of their girlfriend’s, to live in and hide under.

 

Or so Kali had thought. It didn’t really come across as that as she walks back in the dark streets at three a.m, leather jacket wrapped around and hood drawn over, pistol nestled against her stomach inside the secret pocket and her hand wrapped around to hide the bloody switchblade.

 

Her and El had been living in the hole-in-the-wall apartment for two years now, not long after her sister had graduated high school. It’d been going well so far, and with the help of Dr. Owens and other men from the disgraced and disbanded Hawkins Lab who were willing to shell out money if the family was quiet about what happened, getting them proper IDs and licensees to make it seem like they were just average kids, there’d been few bumps in the road. El was attending Chicago’s local college and Kali held her own minimum wage job, with her music on the side. And once Nancy had found her again after going to university out of state and graduating early with her journalism degree, it’d made the picture almost too good to be true.

 

Until this.

 

It was an anonymous tip. Kali knew what it was immediately, knew it was a threat. Yes, most men behind Brenner’s operation had fled after El had closed the gate and the whole thing was deemed too dangerous to continue and try to recapture Kali and El, but not all. There were stragglers. Men who’d invested too much time, too much blood and tears, into making small children international weapons to just give up so easily. They’d wandered aimlessly after the lab fell apart, and apparently, one had followed the sisters all the way to Illinois.

 

He said he knew where they lived. Knew where her sister,  _ number eleven, _ went to school and which classes she took. Knew which paper  _ that close friend of hers _ did her internship at. And unless Kali wanted something to happen to them, she’d better play along to his demands.

 

She didn’t tell El. It would only scare her. She’d been through too much, forced to kill too many, and even now, at twenty, was still too young to be put through this again. But Kali? Kali had done this plenty times. She’d made a life out of it. She’d armed herself in weapons and the ideal way to get away with a kill. This was easy.

 

She didn’t know why she didn’t tell Nancy. Maybe it was because it was under the idea of such threats. Maybe it was because she had no idea what he was planning and what kind of back-up he had, even if she was sure it wasn’t much at all. Maybe it was because the thought of anyone hurting her love made her an unreasonable kind of afraid.

 

Either way, it was done. The body of the man daring to spit threats at her was shriveled up in some back alley, laying unconscious and dripping in blood by the seeping gash in his chest and cut around his neck. It was rather simple. She didn’t even have to use the gun. All it took was his promises to steal away Kali and El and the peace they’d worked so hard to get, and kill that nosy journalist girlfriend if she dared to get in the way, and Kali had slipped right back into her well-worn rage and had a knife under his skin.

 

They’d seem to have forgotten how well they did making a weapon out of her.

 

She’d have to call Hopper and Owens about it in the morning, make sure the body was disposed of before it was found, but for now she was making her way back. Covered head down and spiked boots stomping across the broken pavement, across the flashes of neon lights over and trying to avoid stepping on other ghostly faced passersby at this ungodly hour. The sunken, gritty characters roaming blocks and footstoops didn’t frighten her; she’d honestly lived in worse conditions in her life.

 

Finally, she made it back to the apartment building. She turned her key in the rusty lock of the gated door, hurriedly slipping inside to the warmth and silent, fluorescent lit entrance room. The elevator was bust, had been since they’d moved in, so she climbs up the stained carpeted stairs, attempting to be quiet.

 

Theirs was on the third floor, four down. She slides her other key into the lock and tentatively turns it, trying to be as quiet as possible with how much the door creaks on opening. Honestly, everything in this place was rusting over. She slowly shuts it, and then quickly does up the lock. And then does the chain lock she’d installed a few inches above the other one. There. She stares at it, teeth biting into her lip. Her hands were still shaking and she could hear her breathing loud in the still house. She goes over and grabs a chair from the banged up dining set they found at goodwill, and props it under the doorknob, securing. Better.

 

Once that was done, she slides off her jacket to leave ontop of the kitchen table covered in her sister’s school notes, remembering to take the pistol out from the inside. After she had to tip-toe through the dark hall by the closed bedrooms, into the washroom. She flicks on the florescent light, puts down the pistol, sighs, and gets to work.

 

Kali turns on the sink, waiting a few seconds because when they’d moved in the water had a tendency to be brown when it first came out of the tap (this had been a fun surprise when she’d showered for the first time). She holds up her switchblade and flicks the trigger, revealing the blade she hadn’t had time to wash off, the dried blood still gooey across the steel.

 

The thing was old; she’s had it since she was fourteen, her first year living on the streets of Chicago. Her thumb smooths over the words carved in shaky printing across the handle;  _ loyal to few, ruled by none.  _ A friend of hers had done that, one who’d belonged to a group she’d had in her early teenage years who were wild and fearless, even before the gang El had met. She could almost smile at the memory, washing away the red under the warm water. 

 

After, she had to clean herself off. She’d tried to wipe off most of the blood before she’d stepped out of the alley, but there was still splotches under her nose, above her lips. She splashed water over her face, making sure to get it all in case of staining the towel she dried off with. Now was her hand; she carefully peeled off her leather glove, gritting her teeth as it drags over. Because, of course, there on her knuckles were blooming bruises, a couple cuts from the breaking skin. That was going to be a joy to hide from her roommates. She has to get their first-aid kit, hissing quietly at the gauze she wiped over until it was all cleaned up.

 

She stepped out when it was done, pistol slid into pocket, feeling she could finally start breathing right again and the quiet didn’t feel as eerie. El’s bedroom happened to be right across from the bathroom, Kali staring across at it. Without not knowing what she was really doing, she found herself walking across into the bedroom. El didn’t like her door completely closed off, never had. So Kali could quietly nudge it back, poking her head into the warm, dark room.

 

El was dead asleep of course. She was buried in blankets, including the knitted throw that’d once lived on the Byers’s couch. There were white lights strung across her headboard, giving the slightest, soft yellow glow and banishing any trauma around dark rooms. Framed photos of the party littered her bedside table, alongside opened bags of candy and letters written from Mike. She still had the old lego sets her and Will built on the dresser, even the faded poster of Princess Leia hung blue-tacked on the wall.

 

Kali could faintly make out her head poking out from the sheets, the head of messy thick hair that’d now grown past her shoulders. Twenty. Kali felt herself start to smile; she couldn’t believe it sometimes, how much had changed, how much  El had grown to start living her own life freely and learn how to take the trauma they’d undergone and let it lift her, not drown her.

 

She was still a tiny thing though. That probably wasn’t going to ever change.

 

Kali felt a lump grow in her throat, chest tightening. Her baby sister who’d fallen into her life, who’d brought her to Nancy and freed her from her anger, who’d given her a family for her past no one else could understand. She’d been working so hard at college. She wants to be a councilor, wants to help kids who’d also been under terrible circumstances like she had.

 

And she was going to. Absolutely no one was going to get in her way and hurt her again, Kali had made sure of that.

 

Kali quickly blinked away the stinging around her eyes, figuring she’d better go. She slowly backed out of the room, closing the door but not the full way. Her hand had lingered around the doorknob, gripping right, until finally she had to tell herself to let go, she’s fine. She’s safe.

 

She shuffled back into her room, into the bedroom her and Nancy shared. She had to be even quieter opening the door because Nancy was a notorious light sleeper.

 

Kali spots her right away in the bed, layered in sheets with her  own  side  noticeably empty. They have no lights but the blinds are open, letting the yellow  street lamps filter through the window and softly light up  her snow cheeks. Kali walks over, opening the drawer of Nancy’s books and articles she’s working on, and  takes the tab to pull up the false bottom and reveal the hidden compartment, sliding the gun safely back inside. After she looks to her girlfriend and before considering if she might wake her, she sinks her fingers into her hair. They dance through the light brown tresses, smoothing them fondly. The lump in her chest grows tighter. 

 

She has to go to bed. She’s suddenly so tired.

 

Getting up, she starts pulling her sweater over her head, off and into the dresser drawer she pulls out. The top of the dresser was cluttered with junk, lipsticks and compacts and small boxes of sentimental tokens, most Nancy’s she’d taken from when she moved out (except for her ballerina music box, which she gave to El). But thankfully the inside was moderately clean; Kali filters through the clothes until finding her old  _ Black Flag  _ tee. It was worn and had more holes then she can count, but it was an item of comfort that she eagerly slides on. Next she frees herself from her jeans, tossing them off to wherever they may land. 

 

She carefully pulls back the covers of the bed, more then welcoming the softness of  the sheets against her bare legs and tired joints. She lays back in place, turning over immediately to Nancy still beside her. 

 

She looked angelic even when she sleeps, all curled up with her face nuzzled against her pillow. It should be impossible. She could hear the gentle rise of her breath,  _ up, down,  _ somehow sweet. Kali watches the rise of her stomach, not able to shake how that bastard hissed his promises  to  do away  with  her, the ways he could hurt her.

 

Kali brought an arm up, sliding it with confident ease around Nancy’s waist. She shuffles closer and, very tentatively, pulls Nancy into her chest. Her head fell under Kali’s chin, tucked in, and Kali pressed her face into the strawberry scented locks, eyes squeezing shut as she takes in the familiar scent. She presses a kiss over top her hairline. A content sigh brushed against her neck.  Kali could hear her heartbeat thumping very faintly, almost swearing she could feel it pressed against her chest,  against  her own heartbeat. 

 

She holds on tighter, swallowing down any  water around her eyes. Safe.  _ Safe.  _ It’s okay.

 

She needs to sleep. They both do. Kali finally starts relaxing against the bed, allowing sleep to take over. Of course, once she starts doing that, she suddenly feels a quiet, muffled noise from Nancy. The thin body starts shifting in her arms, head  tilting  up.  _ Shit.  _

 

“Kal..?” Nancy whispered, voice low and croaking from sleep.

 

Kali remained motionless. Maybe she could get Nancy to go back to sleep if she acted the part. But, foolish her, Nancy never gives up on anything.

 

“Kali?..” She shuffled back a bit, head off the pillow “What’s wrong..?”

 

“Nothing, go back to sleep.” Kali muttered quickly, pressing her forehead to the pillow. Nancy stays watching her, the confusion on her face morphing into concern. 

 

“Nightmare?..” She asks, quieter. Those weren’t hard to come by; many nights in this apartment, Nancy wakes in tears from the memory of a monster hunting for her blood, or Kali bolts awake screaming and full of fight because she’d remembered the sting of the cattle prod on her body and the faces of the men who did it. Those nights were soothed with warm, enveloping arms and gentle words of _it’s okay, it’s safe_ from each other.

 

Kali shakes her head. Nancy, for some reason, still wasn’t satisfied. She could still read the  discontent in the room, something cold clinging to Kali. She brings up her hand, cupping her cheek.

 

“What is it?..”

 

Kali, perhaps too hastily, grasps the pale hand and  pushes it  off. Big mistake. Nancy, sharp-eyed like always, immediately notices the busted knuckles. She snatches her hand back before Kali can hide  it, eyes going wide.

 

“ _What..”_ Her finger traces around the bruised skin, bolting up in bed “What-what the hell is this???” 

 

Kali groans, yanking her hand back  as she pulled herself up .  _ Great.  _

 

“ _Kali –”_

 

“Okay, Nance –”

 

“Just _what_ were you doing?!” Nancy demands. Her concern had hightailed it out, replaced with a fiery glare and folded arms. Kali sighed, rubbing over her eyes; she was in shit, and she knew it. 

 

She couldn’t lie to Nancy, even if she wanted to. And she so desperately wanted to. Instead, she leans over the bed to her  discarded jeans, shuffling around until she found the crumpled note in  the pocket. She grabs Nancy’s wrist and stuffs it in her hand. The brunette didn’t let up on her  glare, though did raise a brow. 

 

She started to read it. Kali sat back with a sick stomach, waiting. Slowly, she watched Nancy grow paler, and the anger dissipated into fear, a look of horror as she gaped at the note. Temporarily forgetting Nancy was upset, perhaps overridden by her affection, Kali reached out, hand on her thigh and a need to pull Nancy into her. 

 

“Oh-oh my god, Kali...”

 

“It’s okay.” Kali whispered, sliding her hand around Nancy’s cheek “I took care of it, it’s alright now, I swear..” 

 

But that didn’t remedy any wrong-doings. Nancy only grew even more upset as she stared at the slip, at the  threats of blood and hurt. 

 

“ _Why –_ why didn’t you tell me about this?!” She roared, ripping the hand off her cheek. Kali blinked back in surprise. She’d seen Nancy’s fight, her strength and sharpness she hides, but rarely has it ever been directed at her.

 

“Because..because..”

 

“Because what?! What were you even thinking?!”

 

“Be-because it was _dangerous_ Nancy!” 

 

“ _Dangerous?!_ Are-are you kidding me?!” Her anger started to rise, flames growing higher “If you _hadn’t noticed_ Kal, danger is something the both of us have kind of strived on! But what, now you just decided to do it all by yourself?! What if something had happened to you??” 

 

“ _Look,_ I’ve been doing this a long time alright?” Kali hissed, staring to meet Nancy’s rage “Longer then when you first ever decided to take on the man, and I know how it works. And I _did it._ But I didn’t know what his plan was, what reinforcements he had, what could’ve happened to you if you’d come!” 

 

“..God, you’re so full of _bullshit.”_ Nancy spat, making Kali bristle “Trying to pull this ‘you’re just a kid, you don’t know what you’re doing’ crap on me. I could’ve handled it, I could’ve _helped you,_ and you know that! But no, you think you’re too good for anyone so you had to do it all on your own –” 

 

Kali felt her teeth grit together, fingers curling into her palm. Her girlfriend really knew how to get under her skin when she wanted to.

 

“It wasn’t _about that_ Wheeler, it was about your _safety –_ you and Jane’s, I was _protecting us –”_

 

“Oh yeah, right, _that’s what it is.”_ Nancy challenged, sitting up higher to put her face right up to Kali’s seething one “Well, now that I’ve been greatly insulted –”

 

“ _Nancy –”_

 

“I’ll remind you that _I don’t need protecting,_ and this is about you refusing to ever take help –”

 

“ _Of course you don’t fucking need protecting!”_

 

Nancy fell back.  She blinked back in shock, knocked down from saying anything. Kali was breathing hard. She dragged a hand over her face, pressing it over her eyes to hold back the sting.

 

Her and Nancy’s anger were very different. Nancy was full of fight, of fire and passion. You get her  riled up and she’s a storm, spitting words and cuts, and it’s hard to  reel in. Kali’s different. Kali grew up in an environment where outright anger was meet with torture and control; she couldn’t express it. So, she’s cultivated it in silence. In steel looks and calm but very  _ real  _ threats; whereas her girlfriend might dig her claws in immediately, Kali doesn’t take her revenge until after, when the person least expects it for the most  devastating blow.  It was calm and collect and calculated.

 

So, when her anger does show like this, when it overflows and comes out in screaming flames, it’s a big deal. Something was obviously wrong. Nancy could read that,  concern rising through; she shuffled closer to the smaller girl, only for her to back away.

 

“..Of course you don’t _need_ it Nancy..” Kali tells her, hearing her words cracking at the edges “It isn’t _about_ whether you need it or not.” 

 

Nancy hung her read, an apology sitting on her tongue “...Kal –”

 

“Look, listen, listen to me,” Kali closes the space between, cupping her face “..I have two very important things in my life, and that’s Jane and you. Jane gave me a family, a connection to my past that’s not understandable to anyone else, and she helped me lead my life so it’s mine, and not controlled by anger. And _you..”_

 

Kali bit into her lip, swallowing down any tears threatening. Her hand had fallen away but Nancy grasped it, squeezing their fingers together – quietly, encouraging.

 

“..You are my _love._ I haven’t ever loved someone the way I love you. Never..have I found the same connection in another.” Her voice is wavering and faltering and she hates that, hates the emotions breaking her down after she’s trained herself never to allow it “..Everyone else in my life I’ve lost. _Everyone,_ gone, most dead. And I..I know _exactly_ what these men are capable of, what they could do to give you the fate of everyone else I’ve loved..”

 

“Kal..–”

 

“I will protect you, no matter what." Her voice was iron, the fight in her turning it sharp. Her eyes were set to Nancy’s, never breaking. The tears were evident. Nancy glanced down, swallowing roughly.

 

“No-no matter that you can protect yourself well enough anyway, or that Jane can too, because if-if something had happened to either of you I..I just..I can’t..”

 

“ _Hey,_ hey, it’s okay..” Nancy soothes, shuffling closer, hand slipping over her shoulder and foreheads connecting “it’s okay Kal, we’re okay, we’re safe I promise..”

 

Kali nods tightly, not trusting herself to speak anymore. The two of them just sat there after that, Kali trying to  regulate her breathing. Nancy murmurs gentle nothings to her, thumb rubbing over her hand. After a couple minutes, Nancy tilts her head up and kisses  her on the forehead. 

 

“..I get it. I’m sorry, for what I said.” She tells her, lips after forming a wry smile “But, have you ever thought that I love you too?..I mean, the idea of you going off all by yourself to do something totally unsafe..”

 

Kali sighed out heavy. She knew this was coming.

 

“I know..”

 

“Just imagine if I’d done that without telling you. How pissed would you be?”

 

Kali snorted dryly “Very..”

 

“Exactly.” Nancy smiled warmly “..You’re the person I trust the most in a world that’s totally untrustworthy, and I know you feel the same way about me. Even at the risk of fear..”

 

She reached up, softly pushing back the thick mass of black hair to see Kali’s face better.

 

“..I don’t want it to keep us from leaning on each other. Okay?”

 

This time, Kali meets the smile. She turns to Nancy’s hand still lingering by her face, kissing the palm.

 

“..Nancy Wheeler, I’d never want anyone else to fall on.”

 

Nancy’s smile grew. She closed the tiny gap to kiss her; just for a second, feather gentle.

 

“..C’mon. You need sleep. _Everyone_ does probably, because I bet we woke up El and she’s not exactly a morning person anyway..”

 

Kali chuckled. She followed Nancy as they laid back into bed together, side by side. Once heads were on pillows eyes started drifting closed, curled around the blankets and each other. Kali felt ease finally rest over her, chasing out the anxiety previously gnawing on her, the fears of losing what meant the most to her. She still curls an arm around Nancy though, holding her up against her chest. And then they both finally start falling to sleep.

 

But, just as she feels herself nodding off, Nancy slides an arm around her too, holding onto her tight and grounding Kali there with her.

 

She’s got her too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Not too much to say here; I pelted out this one pretty fast, two days, 'cause I was so excited about the idea. In reality, it's probably the one that fits the title the most. Hope you guys like it. 
> 
> Scene: After only hearing about El's new sister Kali through word of mouth and rumours of her dangerous ways, Nancy finally gets to meet her over a Wheeler family dinner. Pre-relationship. 
> 
> Prompt: “Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy.”

Was it weird to be this invested in someone you’d never met?

 

Nancy’s curious. She always has been. She likes to know the whys of things, the ins and outs. It’s what got her tracing after Barb’s  disappearance, what got them to trap the monster. It’s what, in the end, showed that Barb’s life was wrongfully ended, not just an accident. 

 

So when she hears this girl is going to be joining the Byers-Hopper  family at her family’s house for dinner, she can’t help  _ but  _ be curious. 

 

There was already plenty of  rumors flying. After all, there was a reason El had to be looking like a crossover between Motley Crue and The Clash when she came bursting through the Byers door a year ago. Turns out, unsurprisingly, she hadn’t done that herself.  She’d, apparently, been dressed by the  _ sister  _ she’d found. 

 

The sister who lived in Chicago. The sister who was once a tortured experiment just like El, who could do incredible things just like she did. The one who was a leader to some kind of group, a  _ gang,  _ if you wanted a scarier word for it. And she  orchestrated kills, murders, of the very men behind the lab and the project that’d stolen her and El from their homes to mold children into weapons. 

 

She was a killer, plain and simple. 

 

Or, at least, according to Hopper anyway. It was why he’d been so reluctant to let her in when she’d suddenly rolled into Hawkins a week ago, looking for El. Said she wants to be with her sister, that they need each other. That she doesn’t do that kinda stuff anymore,  that El had changed her ways. They’d let her in anyway, as El was  ecstatic and Joyce was willing to look at her more as a lost, damaged kid then a killer.

 

Hopper wasn’t so easy to win over though, and no matter how hush-hush they’d tried to keep this,  rumors festered anyway. And not kind ones. Stories the Chief had taken in some street kid – some kid from some cult gang. That she’d tried to knife someone. That she’d done armed robbery. Some say she actually  _ had _ killed a guy and the family was  just  trying to keep it under wraps. 

 

That she was dangerous. That she was cruel. That you had to stay away. 

 

So, naturally, Nancy was dying to meet her. She had to see, what was right and what wasn’t; obviously, she knew Hawkins was a  rumor mill and half of that was exaggerated. She had talked to Jonathan over the phone about her, since they were all living under one house. 

 

“ _What’s she like?..”_

 

“ _I dunno..kinda weird. She doesn’t really talk.”_

 

“ _She hasn’t said anything to you?..”_

 

“ _Well she mostly talks to El. She’s nice enough. I mean, she does actually have a good taste of music, so..”_

 

“ _Really?”_

 

“ _Yeah. Likes Black Flag, Ramones, some of Kennedys – I showed her my special edition vinyl for Ziggy Stardust and we had a long talk about the whole genre, so..”_

 

“ _Wow. You’ve finally found one of your own!”_

 

So she liked punk. That was about all Nancy really knows – because frankly, she wasn’t keen to believe the whispered words. She of all people, knows this small town like all of them thrives on drama, most that wasn’t true. And really, Kali didn’t kill people who didn’t deserve it. Maybe it was tampering close – she’d heard the story about the man with the young daughters – but as far as she knew, the killings were for people who deserved it. 

 

And if anyone deserved it, it was those men. Nancy knew that especially. Cruel, snake-eyed men who not only abused kids, but would spill blood for their owns means,  do whatever it takes. It didn’t matter who’s life they were  taking, who had to die and who had to suffer for things to go their way.

 

She’s sure that counts as enough fodder to deserve a killing. 

 

Regardless, it peaks that night, when the whole clan had ventured to the Wheeler house after her mom had invited them. Nancy’s helping with the food, and is told to stay and watch the steaming vegetables and lasagna in the oven when the doorbell rings and her mom has to get it. Frustrated, she lingers as close as she can to pick anyone new out of the voices. Joyce’s and her mom’s greeting chatter. Mike’s, who’d rushed over, excited voice and El’s gentle reply. Jonathan’s soft voice when her mom asks how he is.  Nothing.

 

It wasn’t until after she was resting the finished lasagna onto the cooling rack, that she felt her sleeve being tugged. She glanced over to El standing by,  gazing up at her. 

 

“Oh, hey El!” 

 

El didn’t say anything. She suddenly has Nancy’s wrist and is pulling her right around, taking her somewhere. 

 

“Woah, hold on El, wh-where are you taking –”

 

They stop at the entrance, Nancy  freezing and gasping lightly. Now  _ that  _ was something new. 

 

She was a lot smaller then Nancy would've expected, then rumors would let you believe. She had to only be five feet. But her presence was nothing to blow off, power rolling off her shoulders; she held Nancy’s gaze expertly and it was almost impossible to look away. She certainly looked like she was into punk, with the black boots wrapped in chains, spiked leather jacket and half-shaved head with brightly dyed hair. Nancy suddenly wished she’d seen her mom’s face when she’d opened the door. 

 

“Nancy. Mike’s sister.” El explained, after pointing to the smaller girl “Kali. My sister.” 

 

_ Kali.  _ Nancy breathed out uneasy, the dark secretive brown eyes smoldering into hers. She was totally gorgeous.

 

“..Nancy Wheeler.” Her voice was low and gravelly and immediately intoxicating; she doesn’t smile, doesn’t frown, doesn’t lead onto anything “..I’ve heard things.” 

 

Nancy swallows, finding her grounding. She makes sure to stare back as clear. 

 

“..So have I.” 

 

Not much is said after that. El tugs  Kali downstairs along with Mike and Will so she can show her their DnD stuff and what they’ve been up to. And she doesn’t say much at dinner either, sat between Joyce and El, giving simple, what sounded rehearsed, one word answers to her mom’s inquiries that she hears she’s El’s sister and how does she find Hawkins. Nancy watched quietly, observing, waiting for anything to pull from this girl. There wasn’t anything. She was very good; you didn’t see anything more then she wanted you to. 

 

Of course, this only drove Nancy’s curiosity mad. 

 

Now, it was after. Her mom and Joyce shooed her out from cleaning the kitchen since she already helped  cook, the kids, including Jonathan who’d been dragged down there by Will, were back downstairs, and Hopper was attempting to make conversation with her dad in the living room.

 

Kali was nowhere to be found. Hm. 

 

Nancy wandered upstairs. There wasn’t really anything up here to be interesting. The bathroom was unoccupied so that was out, her parents room empty, Mike’s room closed like she knew he left it – 

 

Hers was open. 

 

She quickly hurried over, quiet in her footsteps. Approaching the white doorframe, she leans in and there Kali  was, standing over her desk, fingers tracing over her old jewelry box. 

 

“Find what you’re looking for?” 

 

Kali turns quickly, to Nancy who bore folded arms and a raised brow. She didn’t really react immediately, but a second after, eyebrows rise up at her  in return.

 

“...This is cute.” She says, pointing vaguely around the room. She didn’t say it with clear sarcasm, but for some reason you could hear it anyway. Perhaps it was just implied. 

 

“Well I imagine it’s just the look you’re hoping to borrow..” Nancy mumbled, resting against the doorway.

 

Kali hmms. Her lips tilt up slightly, the first kind of smile she’s shown all evening. She walks over to the  side of the room near Nancy, eyes  examining the decorated peg board as she  asks,

 

“They ask you to come looking for me?..”

 

Nancy furrows, bristling for a reason she doesn’t know. 

 

“What? No.” She spoke too fast. Kali turned to her again. Nancy felt her heartbeat speed up. 

 

“Seriously,” She continued, lifting off the wood frame “No-no one asked me, I came up here on my own will..”

 

She didn’t know why it was so important Kali know that. Maybe Nancy didn’t want her to believe everyone assumed the worst, that there was someone in her corner. Or at least someone who was going to draw their own conclusions before taking in gospel. Kali continued to watch Nancy, until finally going back to the board, drawing over the  academic ribbons and  polaroids.

 

“It’s fine..” She assures, walking back to the bedside drawer, taking interest in the turquoise phone sitting atop “I realize my reputation precedes me around here..”

 

Nancy sighs “Well, everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy, or they keep  _ trying _ to..” 

 

Kali paused at that. She must’ve been thinking, calculating. Nancy chewed on her lip, going back and forth from glancing at her feet to the other girl. It was somehow more unnerving for Kali to have her back to her. Eventually, she turned  around. She watched Nancy carefully, closely, a kind of look that made you feel someone had a spotlight shined directly down on you. Finally, she sighed. 

 

“..Well I hope, that you, Nancy Wheeler,” She slowly made her way over until she was directly in front of Nancy, only a foot separating, “are one of the few in this town who can grow their own conscious outside the rumor mill..” 

 

Nancy swallowed tightly, thinking. She met Kali’s eyes, the gorgeous browns  pouring into  hers. It wasn’t an easy feat. Kali looked at you like she could see right through you, like she could see every dirty nook and cranny you were trying to hide. And maybe she could. 

 

“..Well I know this place pretty well..” Nancy finally said, taking in another breath, never straying her gaze “And something tells me stories about horrific killings are just a little too far-fetched. Everyone should get to tell their own story, after all..”

 

Silence. She’s watching her, clearly  gauging the reaction. Nancy waited for a smile, for anything at the kindness she extended. Nothing. She sighed again, squaring her shoulders. 

 

“...However, finding you snooping around my room, doesn’t really do anything for you..”

 

Kali still says nothing, just a quick breath of air out of her nose. Slowly though, after, her lips curl up. 

 

“...Smart. Never give trust completely to one side. I guess that’s why you came up on your own will.” She tilted her head, eyes sliding down Nancy with such an ease Nancy didn’t even notice until they were eye-to-eye again “..And, well, speaking of, everyone keeps telling me you’re your parents good girl who gets the perfect grades and would never even consider breaking a rule, let alone actually break one, especially ones so..important..”

 

Nancy tenses. Kali doesn’t continue but there was more lingering, she could sense that. Her brow bunches, now ten times more cautious.

 

“..So what then? Who told you?” She probes, getting more worried “Did he, Jonathan –”

 

“He said nothing. He respects your privacy.” Kali answers with that same ease, steady to Nancy’s panic “But I do talk to my sister. And that cop let me in to who was safe, who was involved in what happened, all of that..” 

 

“..I see..” Nancy mutters, shuffling on her feet “….What else then?” 

 

“What?..” 

 

“There’s something else.” 

 

Nancy could tell, sense, there was another thing the small girl wasn’t mentioning. At that, Kali’s smile grows. Hiding something. Nancy hates that. 

 

“Well, it’s also, mostly..” She slides her hand effortlessly into her jacket pocket, wrapping around something. She carefully takes it out, and immediately, Nancy recognizes the glint off the steel from the overhead lamp. She gasps sharply, eyes going wide. 

 

Her pistol.

 

“ _Shit –”_

 

“having _this,_ is doing amazing damage to that reputation..” 

 

“ _God,_ what’re you –” Nancy whips her head around to the hall, yes it’s still empty, and then quickly kicks the door back by her heel. She grabs Kali’s sleeve, dragging her over to the side to properly hide them.

 

“My parents could walk up at any second! What’re you even doing with that?!”

 

“Relax, I wasn’t going to steal it, if that’s what you were thinking..” Kali rolls her eyes slightly, holding the gun up between them “but, if I were to give you some advice, keeping this in your _sock drawer_ is possibly the worst place to hide it. I’m surprised mommy dearest hasn’t already found it..” 

 

Nancy angrily bit into her lip. She felt her cheeks going red; whether it’s embarrassment, or Kali, or the matter of Kali being so close to her, it’s unknown. 

 

“...I keep it in the back..” 

 

“Well in that case..” Kali mumbled dryly. She walks over, opening the drawer of the white dresser to slide the gun back in, making sure it was covered by the fuzzy colourful socks. Nancy watches her, teeth biting into her cheek and shifting uneasily. 

 

“...Look, I..–”

 

“Relax Nancy Wheeler,” Kali drawls, Nancy loving the way her name rolls of her tongue, but wishing she didn’t. She strides back over to her, headed for the door but stops to stand in front of her. 

 

They stand eye to eye in the still room. Nancy swallows thickly, her heartbeat loud in her ears. Maybe she should be worried about how close Kali was to her. How her hand was stuck in her pocket, looking like she was  fiddling with something. Nancy was sure she saw the handle of a switchblade in there earlier. She could faintly smell the trace of cigarettes coming off the small girl, even though she was sure she didn’t smoke – though, whatever it was,  it  and the rough scent from the leather pulled her in.

 

Still, she stands steady, keeping Kali’s gaze. Kali stayed quiet, observing, and then quietly, a brow raised to her; just slightly, Nancy nearly missed it.  If she wasn’t mistaken, it almost looked like Kali was impressed, nearly reaching respect.  After, dark lips curled up. 

 

“..Your secret is safe with me.” 

 

Nancy didn’t know what to say back.  Or believe if that was even true.  Didn’t matter though, because in a blink, Kali was gone. She’d slid by Nancy like a snake in the grass, out the room and downstairs. 

 

Nancy breathed out heavy. She didn’t even know she was holding it in. Well, that was, interesting. Her curiosity hadn’t been batted as much as it’d been spiked, really. She does one quick lap of her room to be certain nothing was out of place, and when it wasn’t, she hurried back downstairs.

 

Half an hour later, everyone was sitting back at the table, eating the cake and ice cream Karen had put together. Nancy doesn’t try to just stare at Kali the whole time, and instead talks to Jonathan about his new photography project and that he can borrow her notes for Mr. Maeson’s history test if he wanted. Really, she didn’t need to give the other girl any more reason to snoop around her, plus she loved chatting with Jonathan.  Even  after breaking up, the whole ‘staying friends’ thing had actually worked out pretty well. 

 

When dessert was done, she hadn’t even paid attention to where Kali was. It wasn’t until she had finished loading up the dishwasher because her mom had gone off to put Holly to bed, that Hopper came through the kitchen. His usual look of frowning  displeasure was worse then earlier, and he appeared on edge, eyes alert and scanning around the kitchen. 

 

“Lose something?..” Nancy finally has to ask, brow raised. Hopper grumbled under his breath, after turning to her. 

 

“..Can’t find El’s sister..” He muttered. 

 

“..And that’s a big deal because?...” Nancy said, watching him peer around the island. He huffed. 

 

“Well I’ve been _trying_ to keep a second eye, she hasn’t exactly earned trust..–”

 

“Hey Nancy?!” 

 

Her mother’s voice hollered from somewhere in the house. Nancy sighed. 

 

“Yeah mom?!” 

 

“Have you seen Holly? I was trying to get her washed up but she ran out from under my feet –”

 

“I haven’t mom, I’m sure she’s with Mike and them!” 

 

“They said they haven’t seen her! I can’t find her anywhere!”

 

Nancy paused at that. She met Hopper’s eyes, and a second after, saw them bug out. Both Kali and Holly, missing. Nancy’s breath hitched a little. 

 

“..You know what, it’s fine Nance, I’ll –”

 

“N-No, it’s uh, it’s okay mom!” Nancy quickly covered “I’m sure she’s just downstairs or whatever, I’ll go look for her!” 

 

“..Alright then, thank you!” 

 

“Great, _great,”_ Hopper hissed, pressing a hand over his face “I let the assassin walk off with a goddamn toddler –”

 

“Look, I’m sure she’s fine.” Nancy assured him, and just slightly, for herself “Unless my baby sister is actually a government official wanted for human rights crimes, I _think_ she’ll be be okay – and Kali might not even be with her. I’ll just go look..” 

 

Nancy hurriedly walked off,  faintly  hearing Hopper’s strained “let’s hope..” under his breath. She was sure it was fine, even through the slight  gnawing at the bottom of her stomach. Because really, what would Kali want with Holly? Honestly, she didn’t seem the type to really get along with kids. 

 

She made it down the steps two by two, hitting the bottom basement floor in no time. Before she can even call out Holly’s name, she’s cut off by girly giggling she knew well. 

 

“Again! Again!” 

 

A warm chuckle follows. It’s female. 

 

“Again? I dunno, I’ve already done it three times..” 

 

Nancy spins on her feet, to the far corner of couches. Kali’s sitting up on the sagging old sofa, bent forward. And in front of her was Holly. Dressed in her pj’s, she had a hand on Kali’s knee, a big grin and  was  bouncing up and down excitedly. 

 

“Please?! Pleeeeasseee???” 

 

Kali laughs. Nancy furrows in complete surprise, head tilting. 

 

“Okay, since you asked so nicely. Pick out another one.” 

 

Holly leaves Kali, rushing to the other side of the couch. Nancy can just see the various papers that were her sticker collection. She had a whole bunch; of Barbies, of puppies, kittens, but this one she had was butterflies. She takes a careful look at them, and then peels off a bright blue butterfly. She runs back to deliver it to Kali. 

 

“This one!” 

 

“That’s the one you want?” 

 

“Uh-huh!”

 

Nancy sees Holly put it in Kali’s open hand, sticking it against her palm. What were they up to? She leans against the staircase, curious to see how it was going to end. 

 

“Alright, let’s see..” Kali declares. Her hand closes, making a fist, hiding the sticker. Holly watches very closely, head stuck right next to hers. Then, Kali holds it up to the little girl. 

 

“Can’t do it without you though – give it your all..” 

 

Holly grasps onto Kali’s fist with her tiny fingers, taking in a huge breath and then blows on it, like she was dusting it off. Nancy furrows, lips staring to form a confused smile. Kali pulls back her fist, and peers down to where the pointer finger and thumb make a hole, pretending to take a good look  inside  and ‘hmmm’ thoughtfully. 

 

“Alright, I’m looking..” 

 

“Is it there?! Lemme see!!” 

 

“I can’t see anything. I think the butterfly is a little shy.” Kali tells her, holding up the fist again “You might have to give it another go..” 

 

Holly does, blowing so hard on the extended hand she nearly falls over from such hard effort. Nancy smiles bigger. And so does Kali, pulling back when she was done. 

 

“That should be good. Okay, wanna see?” 

 

“Yeah!!” 

 

Then, oh so slowly, Kali lets her finger unfurl. Nancy peers closer, eager to see what the girl was up to. That’s when, out of literal nowhere, a big, bright luminescent blue butterfly suddenly crawls up from the underside of Kali’s fingers, stopping at her knuckles. 

 

Holly cheers. Nancy gasps softly. It looked so  _ real.  _ But, obviously, it couldn’t be – right? That’s when it dawned on her. Her powers. She’d been told they were different then El’s. This must be it. 

 

Her baby sister has no idea though, and to her it was totally real. She watched as the butterfly spread it’s wings, taking flight. It fluttered around her, circling the tiny body  and  making Holly squeal with delight. She spun circles, trying to catch it and teetering on her unsteady feet. Both Kali and Nancy grinned, watching her happiness. At one point, it even landed on her tiny button nose, flapping it’s bright blue wings. Holly nearly fell back laughing. 

 

Nancy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Here was Kali, the quiet killer, making her baby sister so completely delighted she could burst. She even had this big grin on watching the toddler follow the butterfly around the room.

 

Now she really wishes Hopper had come down with her  to see.

 

It ended when the butterfly flew up to the top of the room, escaping out the  propped up window above the t.v stand. Holly rested her hands on it, waving erratically and yelling out “bye-bye butterfly!” Nancy put her eyes to Kali, just catching her  peeling off the sticker on her hand to hide it and  quickly wiping under her nose. She furrowed; she knew what that meant. She’d seen El do it enough times. Was she okay? Before thinking, Nancy hastily stood up from where she was leaning. 

 

The old wooden stairs, having never been remodeled since Nancy was a baby, let out a perfectly loud  _ creak.  _ Shit. 

 

Heads spin to the brunette. Holly’s face brightens. Kali’s drops. 

 

“Nancy!” 

 

The two girls, currently staring at each other wide-eyed, didn’t have time to really dwell on what just happened because Holly pelted her way to her big sister. She wrapped her arms around Nancy’s legs, squeezing tight. Nancy cleared her throat, clicking back into the moment at hand. 

 

“Hey Holly!” 

 

“Kali did a magic trick!” Holly yanked on Nancy’s sweater, erratically pointing at the other girl “She’s magic! Did you see?! Did you?!” 

 

“Yeah Hol, I saw..” Nancy chuckled, briefly flicking her eyes to Kali who’s now standing rather awkwardly, head down “...Hey, mom’s waiting for you, you still need to brush your teeth and read bedtime stories.”

 

“But I wanna see more magic!” 

 

Finally, with some convincing perfected on her many nights of babysitting, Nancy got Holly to go back upstairs to their mom. She waited until the small stomps up the stairs had  siphoned off, and she had to finally address...this. 

 

Kali must’ve misplaced her  cold nerve. She still meets Nancy’s eyes, but they weren’t as bold. She flicked them away too fast. Her underbelly had been exposed and now she was almost... _ embarrassed. _ Nancy can’t hold back her grin.

 

This master killer, this supposed bad guy, making her baby sister believe in real life magic. Nancy knew those  rumors were bullshit this whole time. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak into the sudden quiet,

 

“..You know, if you wanna talk about damage to rumors...” 

 

Kali sighed shortly, staring down at her folded arms “Look, I just...I used to do those kinda tricks for kids, you know..before..and she.. _ she  _ found  _ me _ down here, I wasn’t  looking  –”

 

“It’s okay.” Nancy grinned. Kali brought her eyes back up – and they were suddenly open. There wasn’t steel there hiding them. Nancy kind of loved that. It made her look even more gorgeous. 

 

“..Your secret is safe with me.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that was good for you! Let me know below and fingers crossed for more to come :)


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